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Hello, Elle!
The Supreme Court hand-down is over.
Judgement in favour of HMRC.
It was delivered by Lord Hodge in plain understandable language, thank goodness.
BBC have already started with their lies about the case.
I think I may remember Dustin Brown.
Your description is vivid!
It is warming up here but quite tolerable.

Good morning, Pigale!
Thank you for the translation!
I have not heard anything from Sagan, but his team, Bora, are appealing for his re-instatement, but just heard it was turned down.
They say Sagan has accepted the decision of the jury and he feels sorry for his friend, Cavendish.
He does not think he did anything wrong.
"It has happened before and will happen again" is roughly what Sagan said.
Probably justice has been served.
If Cav can't start, should Sagan?

Yes, I suppose the Jury's decision might have been less harsh had
Cav not been so badly injured?

I googled to find when such decision was last taken, and it seems
to be 2010 with Mark Reinshaw - looking at video of the last few
metres of the stage, there was not even a crash then? and he
still got disqualified for bad sportsmanship.
So, in comparison, P. Sagan's elbow yesterday was much more
dangerous for several riders.

Hi, Rusty!
I am glad that you were pleased by the hearing and the verdict!
And that it was in "plain English"!
Yes, Dustin Brown does tend to be rather unforgettable - both in appearance and in play!
When he's good..... he's excellent!
But he does tend to be rather erratic!
I suppose there is justice in what you say about Sagan being unable to ride if Cavendish cannot......
A kind of inverted "What's sauce for the goose....." ?



Hello, Pigale!
You will be happier in today's heat!
Whereas I am gradually wilting.......
I thought a "planche" was a plank or a board in English?
But cannot find my dictionary - I have a feeling my daughter may have "borrowed " it!
I don't think that helps in offering a translation though!
How is your pain level - any improvement?
I hope so, you have suffered long enough!

Hello Elle!

Yes, you are absolutely correct, a 'planche' is a plank or a board
in English; (and thus 'planche à dessin' = drawing board etc.
but it can also means a strip of cultivated land.

I think it finds its origin in the old way of ploughing, when the strips of earth extracted from furrows layed on top of each other and formed like a 'flat board' of earth, and thus the farmer may have grown one thing on one strip, and something else
on another (or others).

Yes, the pain is improving greatly - finally! It is never very far, but at
least it is very bearable and I can now start reducing the tablets
intake - which is good!

(It is 5 weeks since the fall, so enough is enough - but yet your toe has been going on for the same amount of time?)
I hope you will reach that point too in the near future.

PS - could you explain 'what's sauce for the goose.....' ?

Hello, Pigale!
Thank you for the explanation about planche/ board / strip of land!
"What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander" means that if one person is allowed to do something or to behave in a particular way, then another person must be allowed to do the same thing or behave in that same way, too.
In the case of th cycling incident, I meant that if Cavendish couldn't take part, then it was "justice" that Sagan didn't, either.

Thanks Elle - logical explanation, I had just never heard the
expression before; but yes, it does apply to the cycling incident.

Hey, Rusty!
Wow!
What a contest!
Jo has finally done it - and is through to the third round!
Three hours and ten minutes of fantastic tennis - neither player deserved to lose.
Stan Wawrinka was watching - his girlfriend , Donna Velic, was Jo's opponent.
Did you manage to see any of the match?
Or have you been too busy with Le Tour?
And another plus...Heather Watson is through to the next round, too!
Andy Murray and Dustin Brown are on next!

Hello, Elle,
I caught the last 10 minutes of Jo's match (TDF takes priority).
They seemed to be two fine players.
But one has to lose!
I was reading earlier that Laura Robson got £35,000 for losing in the first round.
That is a lot of money.
The Tour was good today and took place in a beautiful part of France.
Very enjoyable!